il at length their number was so great that no city on the way could
contain their army.

Some slept in houses, invited by the kind-hearted, others lay in the
streets or market-place, while others lay down outside the walls of the
cities, or if they were in open country when night fell, slept in barns
or hovels, or by brooks, or under protecting trees, and so weary were
they from their tiresome march that wherever they were, it mattered
not, they slept as soundly as on beds of down. Then when morning came
they ate whatever they had left, or begged or bought what food they
could, for some among them still had money in their pockets. The line
of march was again formed, the banners unfurled, the crosses uplifted,
and with songs and shouts another day was begun. At noon they rested by
some stream or in a shaded nook to eat their scanty meal, and then
again marched on, feeling more keenly each day the distance lying
between them and the land of their dreams, for the great trials of the
young Crusaders had begun. Every day the march grew harder and more
tiresome to the weary travellers, each meal the supply of food was more
scanty, and even those children who had any money were robbed or
cheated of it by hangers-on and thieves. Disorder and lawlessness
increased rapidly in the ranks of the army, until at last they moved on
without any rank or discipline, and under various leaders, who now
openly defied the authority of Nicholas. At last they reached the
territory now called Switzerland, which was then a number of small
districts, mostly belonging to the Emperor; and the army winding
through its beautiful valleys and passing along the banks of its
turbulent rivers, came at last to the shores of Lake Leman and camped
by the walls of Geneva. From thence their task was to cross the
trackless heights of the Alps.

Weary and worn, but singing as they went, they journeyed bravely on
over Mt. Cenis, which in the Middle Ages was the most frequented of all
the mountain passes to Italy, and on that journey many children gave
way to exhaustion. The rocks cut their unprotected feet, the air of
dark chasms chilled them, they saw no prospect of rest or food until
the pass was traversed, and go any farther in such misery they could
not. Many turned back, and sadder and wiser, sought again the
protection and comfort of their homes.

But the majority of the army still feverishly excited and inflamed with
hope, pressed on and on, then sudden